新年访谈 Gyeonggi Province Paralympic Sports Association Executive Director Baek Kyung-yeol

[News S=Reporter Eom In-yong] Baek Kyung-yeol, Executive Director of the Gyeonggi Province Paralympic Sports Association, stated, "Thanks to the hard work and passion of athletes, coaches, and related officials who did their best in their respective positions for the development of Gyeonggi Province's Paralympic sports over the past year, Gyeonggi Province's Paralympic sports were able to grow one step further," and added, "In the new year, we will do our best to realize the values of an integrated society through promoting Paralympic sports and to help athletes pursue their dreams in a fair and safe environment." He further emphasized, "Through balanced development from community sports to professional sports, we will create a Gyeonggi Province where everyone can find happiness through sports."

The following is a Q&A session.

▲ What are the direction and policies of the Gyeonggi Province Paralympic Sports Association for 2026?

- In accordance with Governor Kim Dong-yeon, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Province Paralympic Sports Association's policy of "prioritizing measures to improve the lives of people in difficult circumstances," we will prioritize expanding opportunities for sports activities for people with disabilities and improving their quality of life, and will reflect this in various projects. In line with the Governor's New Year's address, "I am a Gyeonggi Province resident," the Gyeonggi Province Paralympic Sports Association will take the lead in creating a Gyeonggi Province where any person with a disability would like to live.

▲ What are the new or priority projects for 2026?

- We will actively participate in ESG management practices through digital transformation. Through the development of our association's website system, we will computerize existing administrative tasks and convert the settlement system to an online method in accordance with the full implementation of the local subsidy management system (Botaeme), thereby enabling systematic and efficient operations at project sites.

To provide equal participation opportunities for people with disabilities in the northern region, whose accessibility to sports participation is relatively limited due to environmental characteristics, we plan to expand the scale of participation in the "2026 2nd Gyeonggi Northern Region Paralympic Sports Games." To this end, we will increase the operating events and participants from the previous year's 3 events and 325 participants to 5 events and approximately 600 participants.

The need for operational support to enable affiliated organizations to perform their roles in a stable manner has emerged due to limitations in financial and human resources of Paralympic organizations. Accordingly, we will promote the stabilization of overall administrative office operations through quarterly checks and applications for administrative subsidies and the regularization of customized job training by position for executives and staff of affiliated organizations. Additionally, we will expand the support budget per event of the Governor's Cup (sponsored) competition from last year's 19 million to 34.2 million won to 23 million to 35 million won to provide more stable event operations.

▲ What are the plans to improve support for outstanding athletes and coaches, as well as plans to support full-time sports instructors?

- With the improvement of domestic Paralympic sports levels, the importance and necessity of securing excellent Paralympic athletes and nurturing foundational strategic events have increased. Accordingly, we will improve the grades and support methods for outstanding athletes and coaches. To this end, we will revise the support funds that were last year S-grade (2 million won), A-grade (1 million won), B-grade (500,000 won), and C-grade (300,000 won). This year, we will abolish the C-grade and maintain the S-grade (2 million won) and A-grade (1 million won) as before, while increasing the B-grade by 300,000 won to 800,000 won.

At the same time, to address disparities in player development capacity, human resources, and other factors among cities and counties due to Gyeonggi Province's geographical characteristics, we will refine the qualification standards for hiring capable full-time sports instructors with professional qualifications and revise the compensation system. To this end, we will change from the step-based position system of last year to a salary system and a 4-grade system starting this year.

▲ What is the 'Opportunity Game Viewing Pass' support project?

- This year, we will continue to promote the 'Opportunity Game Viewing Pass' support project to expand sports viewing opportunities for disadvantaged populations in sports, support group viewing so that people with disabilities in the province can realize social values through sports, and diversify promotional methods.

Accordingly, we will provide 1,000 won in support for admission tickets to professional sports games within the province (4 types of teams with local affiliations in the province, such as football). For reference, last year we provided support to a total of 13,604 people (9,348 people with disabilities and 4,256 accompanying persons).

▲ What are the plans to expand corporate sports team events and recruit personnel?

- We will expand the scale of operations through player recruitment and establishment of new sports events and provide housing stability support for newly recruited athletes. To this end, we plan to recruit 11 excellent players from other cities and provinces and establish a track and field team (4 people/1 track, 3 field events).

At the same time, to enhance competitive performance, we will recruit national team-level athletes and strengthen the competitiveness of team events through strategic matching with existing athletes, while creating a stable foundation for settling by providing support for individual monthly rent and housing costs within a maximum of 500,000 won per month, and securing the stability of mid- to long-term squad operations.